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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Making the Most of Printable Coupons


Today, my cashier at CVS noticed that one of my coupons had been printed from the Internet. She commented that she liked to print coupons online too. She explained that she checks sites like Coupon Bug and Coupons.com monthly.

I started to tell her about Hot Coupon World's searchable database, but she didn't seem interested. It made me wonder how many people are limiting their online coupon searches to sites like Coupon Bug and Coupons.com. Not that there's anything wrong with those sites! They're fantastic! But they are limited to a few offers each month.

So how can we make the most of printable coupons? I have a few suggestions, and I'm hoping that some of you can chime and offer some of your expertise too.


Hot Coupon World
Hot Coupon World offers many different areas of interest on their website, but my absolute favorite is their searchable coupon database (here). You do have to register to use that portion of their website, but it's free, quick, and simple.

This database allows you to enter a search term and find coupons that match your term. You can narrow your search to include only printables. For example, I just entered Kashi in the Description box and changed the Source to printable. When I clicked the Search button, it brought me six websites I could try for printable Kashi coupons.

If you just want to explore what Hot Coupon World has to offer, you can leave the Description box empty and change the Source to printable. Click the Search button to bring back every printable coupon that they have in their database. That's a lot of printable coupons!


Manufacturer's Websites
Many manufacturers offer coupons on their own websites. For example, the Juicy Juice website has a section called Special Offers. Here you'll find coupons, freebies, and other deals. If you have a specific product you need, try searching the manufacturer's website before you buy it.


Store Coupons
Many stores offer savings on their websites, and the deals aren't only for online purchases. Here are just two examples of stores who offer savings via their websites:
  • Kroger - Kroger partners with Shortcuts.com to load savings onto your Kroger shopping card. You can visit the Kroger Shortcuts.com website (here), browse the deals, and add them to your shopping cart. There are no coupons to clip. The savings simply appear when you scan your Kroger shopping card at the checkout.

  • Target - Target offers coupons in various places on their website, but I've found it hard to figure out if I have them all or if I've missed any. Fortunately, A Full Cup compiles all of Target's printable coupons for us! They have a Target Coupon Generator on their website (here), and you can pick and choose which to print. Click on any coupon, and it will prompt you to enter the number of copies you want. Target allows you to use multiple copies of the same coupon, so print as many as you need. When you enter the number for your final coupon, click the Cancel button. A page full of Target coupons will appear, and you can print it. This is a fantastic service!

Blog Links
As I read through different bloggers' CVS scenarios each week, many of them are gracious enough to take the time to put direct links to coupons next to the list of items they purchased. This is great, because these are coupons that I want to use right then. I don't want to have to hunt them down. What a great service!!

Search through any store's website, and you may find some hidden goodies like coupons! If you can't find a link for savings on the store's site, go to a search engine like Google, and enter the store name along with the word coupon. You may find a direct link to coupons.

What other sources for online coupons do you use? This blog is all about sharing, so please feel free to leave a comment and share your sources.


1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jennifer!
I just wanted to say "thank-you" for writing a specific article on your blog to confirm my questions & give additional tips a couple weeks ago ("Saving More or Spending More"). I was looking for an email address to thank you that way--rather than posting a comment--but I didn't find any so I'll take this route. Your ideas were so helpful.
Slowly, I am getting the hang of this "game." As I have a Walgreens closer, I am concentrating on them right now. I think I am finally seeing some pay-back. We don't get the Sunday paper so my coupons are limited, but getting printables is definitely worthwhile. So... "thank you" to all you bloggers who include the links.
Thanks again.